Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 32 Negotiation
Although He Shou is the patriarch of Hejia Village, his family's life is still not particularly wealthy.

They can only be regarded as the rich peasant class, not landlords.

Naturally, I was reluctant to use a blank piece of paper to practice calligraphy.

He uses a brush dipped in water to write on a slate, which can be reused after it dries. This is a habit that He Shou has developed since he was young.

Although He Shou has now given up the idea of ​​taking the imperial examination, this does not prevent him from continuing to study knowledge.

"The Mean" is his favorite book now.

He Shou put down the brush, slowly exhaled a breath, picked up the bowl and prepared to eat.

As the leader of the clan, his breakfast is no different from other people's.

Multigrain rice porridge, plus a pickle to go with the meal.

Compared with ordinary people, the only difference is that the rice porridge is thicker.

While He Shou was eating breakfast, his son looked a little flustered and trotted up to him.

"Dad, bad news, something happened over there in Jintian Town!"

"Yesterday, thieves attacked Jintian Town. Jintian Town fell that day. The Yang family's mansion was breached. The head of the Yang family fled and is now missing..."

The expression on He Shou's face changed. His face was full of doubts, and he turned around and asked.

"what is the problem?"

"Could it be true what the man who came yesterday said?"

In fact, yesterday, Hejia Village received a request for help from Jintian Town.

However, due to the Hakka people's natural defense against the Tujia people, He Shou did not take it seriously, and just casually asked people to send away the Yang family servants who came to ask for help.

But out of caution, after sending away the Yang family's servants, he still sent people to Jintian Town to investigate.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, his son gave him a surprise.

He Shou's son He Jin just nodded when he heard this.

"Replying to my father, what that man said is indeed true."

"Now Jintian Town is indeed occupied by thieves. According to the investigation, almost all of those thieves are wearing red scarves. They are quite well organized. I am afraid they are not ordinary thieves."

"He Laosi and his son who went to Jintian Town to investigate said that he seemed to have heard the thieves shouting "Long Live the Ming Dynasty..."

He Shou couldn't help but take a breath of air when he heard this.

Asked openly.

"Is this true?"

He Jin nodded.

"I think He Laosi will not tell lies to deceive his son."

He Shou put down his rice bowl and frowned.

"Now, trouble!"

"If the bandit army occupying Jintian Town is really an insurrectionary army against the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, then the Qing government will definitely send troops to suppress it."

"When the time comes, Jintian Town will probably suffer disaster!"

He Shou frowned, thought for a while and then spoke.

"Jin'er, you will go to other villages to invite the clan leaders of each tribe. My father wants to discuss with them how to unite the villages to protect themselves."

Everyone knows the military discipline of the Qing army.

Once the Qing army comes to suppress the bandits, that place will definitely be unsafe.

To be on the safe side, He Shou planned to discuss with the clan leaders of each clan and prepare to join forces to protect themselves.

In case the Qing army wants to harm the place while quelling the thieves, if several of their villages unite, they can protect themselves at least, right?

……

As for the capture of Jintian Town by the Ming army, if the Hakka people were just worried about the subsequent invasion of the Qing army.

The Tujia people were already in panic.

Because, during the Ming army's attack on Jintian Town, the Yang family, the leader of the Tujia people in Jintian Town, was wiped out.

After learning this news, how could the remaining Tujia people not be worried.

The Tujia people who had already reached the halfway point were in embarrassment as soon as they received the news of the emergency in Jintian Town.Keep going, you may not necessarily go to other villages.

Even if they all go, they may not be able to defeat the bandits occupying Jintian Town.

If they were defeated, the consequences would be disastrous.

Don't go, what if all the other villages have gone?

Besides, as the saying goes, what comes comes comes.

There is no turning back when the bow is fired. Even if he leads his people back to the village now, he will give up supporting Jintian Town.

But those thieves who occupied Jintian Town did not necessarily ignore the fact that they sent troops to Jintian Town in an attempt to reinforce the Yang family.

If the thief takes revenge later, the consequences will be disastrous...

Therefore, the militia groups in these Tujia villages were all caught in a dilemma.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Li Hongfa, the head of the Li family, stepped forward to take charge and asked all villages to send people to Lijia'ao to discuss matters.

……

Li's enclosed building, lobby!
Unlike the Yang family who lives in Jintian Town, the Li family lives in a fenced building.

The enclosure building is tall, solid and made of rammed earth.

The entire building is closed, with only one entrance and exit. The sturdy building can even withstand the bombardment of some small cannons without being destroyed.

In addition, there are special shooting holes on the wall, which can be used to shoot bows and arrows and muskets at the outside world.

Quite easy to defend but difficult to attack!
At the very least, ordinary bandits, or even small armies, can't do anything with such a fence.

To put it bluntly, such enclosures are fortresses specially designed for war.

Originally, it was a habit of the Hakka people to build enclosures, but as the hostilities and hostilities continued to intensify, we decided to follow the idea that if the enemy has something, I have to have it too.

Some Tujia people also began to imitate the Hakka people and built enclosure buildings.

The Li family is one of them.

The entire Lijia'ao Village was built around the Li family's enclosure, with the Li family's enclosure in the middle.

On weekdays, the villagers all live in their own homes, and only members of the Li family live in the enclosed building.

But once something happens, all the villagers in the village will take refuge in the enclosure.

Li Hongfa sat in the lobby, looked around and said.

"Everyone must know what happened in Jintian Town, right?"

"The tragedy that the Yang family has experienced is really shocking!"

After Li Hongfa's voice fell, someone stood up and said.

"Master Li, just tell me directly, what should we do?"

"Yes, Master Li, what happened in Jintian Town is really... a bit too shocking. Mr. Yang himself has disappeared, and most of his clan members have been killed. Now every village is in panic."

"Master Li, let's make up our mind whether it's a fight or a peace."

"..."

When Li Hongfa saw this, he spoke directly without any hesitation.

"Whether it's a fight or a draw, there's actually no need to discuss this."

"I would like to ask you, can you let go of your properties in Bauhinia Mountain?"

"If we don't wipe out this bandit occupying Jintian Town, how can we continue to develop our business in Bauhinia Mountain?!"

When everyone heard this, they all looked at each other in confusion.

All of their faces were visibly ugly.

Another person stood up and said.

"Then Mr. Li's intention is to fight the thief?"

Li Hongfa nodded after hearing this.

"That's natural!"

"Otherwise, do you have any better way besides this?"

(End of this chapter)